Lesson 5 – Observing Beyond our Senses: Inquiry Drives Technology
Driving Question:How could we use the observed light
properties to create an accurate measuring device?
Can we create a measuring device using our observed properties of light?
What would we need to know to determine if our device was accurate?
How do we know our spring scales are accurate?
1 kg
How do we know spring scales are accurate?
1 kg 4 kg2 kg
0 1 2 3 4 5 60.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
str
etch
(cm
)
mass (kg)
offset or “blank”
How do we know spring scales are accurate?
1 kg 4 kg2 kg
0 1 2 3 4 5 60.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
str
etch
(cm
)
mass (kg)
1 kg
SI Units and time
How do we know spring scales are accurate?
1 kg 4 kg2 kg
0 1 2 3 4 5 60.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
str
etch
(cm
)
mass (kg)
2 kg
How do we know spring scales are accurate?
1 kg 4 kg2 kg
0 1 2 3 4 5 60.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
str
etch
(cm
)
mass (kg)
How do we know spring scales are accurate?
1 kg 4 kg2 kg
0 1 2 3 4 5 60.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
str
etch
(cm
)
mass (kg)
How do we know spring scales are accurate?
1 kg 4 kg2 kg
0 1 2 3 4 5 60.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
str
etch
(cm
)
mass (kg)
How do we know spring scales are accurate?
1 kg 4 kg2 kg
0 1 2 3 4 5 60.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
str
etch
(cm
)
mass (kg)
How do we know spring scales are accurate?
0 1 2 3 4 5 60.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
str
etch
(cm
)
mass (kg)
Calibration curve
What mass causes a stretch of 5.5 cm?
=4.34 kgFinal calibration dataStretch = mass (1.13) + 0.60Mass = (stretch – 0.60) / 1.135.5 cm
What would we need to know to make an accurate calibration curve for our
device?
Tank of milk and water
light sensor
Let’s look at milk fat globules in water
+using serial dilutions
0.2 mm diameter FOV
Homogenized milk contains many small globules of fat
Each mL of 2% milk contains about 10 million globules
…this “population density” is about 1010 globules/L
Visible light is scattered nicely by these globules, about 5 m across on average
Why milk?
About 10 m diameter glob is a big one
ten billion
Which is the size of many exxtremophile microbes we’ll be looking for .
Or perhaps build and calibrate a device with a test tube
holder, a light, and a light sensor.
Photoresistor
LED light source
Insert test tube with microorganism sample here
The intensity of light that is transmitted decreases when the
milk fat density. . .
(millions of globules per liter)
(photoresistorvoltage) What will the
graph look like?
…what would our measurements be?
Will the calibration curve be similar for all devices utilizing the same
properties of light?
Will the calibration curve be similar for all devices utilizing the same
parts?
What’s the real worth of measurements done without
calibration?